The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-12-12
THE HILLS OF MAINE.
Builders OF the Canadian Pacific
Encounter Them.
Picturesque Scenery Along the Hard
est Railroad Building In the State.
Father carrlty and His Big Parish
Life Among tho Navvles,
Correspondence Of the Press

~2O-'nONs 4siCss wv 1901
The line of the Canadian Pacific goes di-
rectly through Greenville, but as the con-
struction of the road-bed at that point has
been comparatively easy. a much better idea
Of the real nature of the work can be OBJ
tanned by going into the forests to the east
or west of Moosehead Lake. The engineers
az Greenville laid especial emphasis upon
the rougbness Of the country to the east
ward, and this determined the PRESS repre-
sentative to seek the mountainous country
along Wilson stream. At this season of the
year access to this region is gained easiest by
the roundabout way through Monson, and
thence in through Elliottsville Plantation.
On clear winter morning the sleigh ride in
from Monson is pleasant journey if one
does not mind rough road on which arises
the occasional alternative of getting out or
being tipped out of the sleigh. The road is
much travelled in these days. Heavy ''tote
teams' carrying in supplies are passed fire.
quently, and there are many foot travellers
with their packs going in to find work or
coming out with their hard-earned dollars.
If any general rule may be deduced from the
countenances Of these men, the anticipations
Of earning money and the expectations Of
spending it are equally dismal. The travel
lers, with cheerful and hopeful Yankee fac
| es are few among the foreign laborers who
| come and go ON the line of this railway.
Miles before the line Of the road, or the
right of way" as it is called is reached, the
booming of dynamite, like the sounds of
heavy guns fired at frequent intervals. be-
gins to be heard and as you emerge into the
little valley or gorge of Wilson stream, the
detonations come sweeping down the wood
edvalley,and as ifpassed from tree top to tree
top. sweeps gradually eastward until you
fancy you can perceive their disappearance
in the dim mountain sides that miles down
Ise at the end Of the gorge. All summer
and all the fall, night and day, these roar
ings of dynamite have rumbled down the
gorge of Wilson stream. They will be heard
all winter, and into next spring, until way
| as broad as highway and nearly as smooth
as floor has been carried along these steep
mountain sides, and over the ravines that
can be passed on foot with difficulty. As
| you cross the narrow bridge over Wills on
stream you see the fresh cuttings on the
fright of way" half way up the side of the
mountain ahead, and il the air is clear you
may hear the pounding Of steam drills far
upon the steep mountains to the right and
| left. ~
| Along the fright of way" all travelling
| must be on foot, some of 1t almost on ones
hands and knees. There has never been any
railroad construction in Maine equal to this
| along Wilson Stream. In the various efforts
made In the Maine Legislature to obtain
notifications Of the Megantic charter, the
difficulty OF finding a possible route through
this part of the State was set forth in the
strongest terms; but many thought that the
height of the mountain sides and the depth
of the rayines were magnified for effect. No
one who has been over the right of way along
Wilson Stream will longer doubt that the
friends of the railroad told the truth. Tic
engineers and contractors say that, while in
the mountainous regions of the North Shore
Of Lake Superior, and in the Rocky Noun
| tains Of the far Northwest, there may be
some more difficult engineering problems,
the nature of the work in this region Is on
the whole as bad as any they have encoun-
tered. There can be no curves over six dr.
grees, and no grades over ffty-three feet in
the MILE Easy grades and gentle curves
must be maintained at whatever expense of
cutting the solid mountain side, and filling in
deep gulches with earth and stones, or where
| this is impossible, spanning them with lofty
| trestles. For several rods the road-bed ex-
| tends as smooth as a floor, then ends abrupt
| ~ in deep cut into the side of the noun
| tains, which reminds one of the entrance into
| a NINE On one of these cuts crews have
been working since last July, much of the
time night and day and yet they must work
| all winter and all next spring and summer
until August, before the way can be opened
| through. An entire year will thus be con-
| sumed in single cut. There are number
| of cuts that will not be finished in less time
i than six months, some of them will require
| seven or nine months. In seven miles along
| Wilson stream at this point there are twenty
| threelarge cuts through the ledge. In one
| of them when completed the walls of ledge
will tower eighty feet above the track.
From twenty-five to forty feet of depth will
| be limits not at all unusual. And along with
| in this same distance, generally not far from
| the deep cuts, are places where Filings, equal
| ly deep are made. In some places these are
| completed; in others tall poles are seen
standing on the mountain side where it is SO
steep that a pedestrian can hardly make his
way; the tops Of these poles mark the level
on which the track is to be laid. In one
phase, cliff one hundred and forty feet high
eastward towards Ship Pond, the engineer
| who surveyed the route, had to be let down
i by ropes when they determined the level of
the grade. Where the right of way is graded
the walking is very easy, as the surface
| of the grade Is very even. But incompeted
| cuts and fills make necessary tedious and
difficult detours along the side of the noun
tain. 1t Is only four miles from the point
where the tote road" across Wilson stream
crosses the right OF way to Store No. 2 or
Higgins's, the best stopping place on the
line in the direction of Greenville; but it
took the party with the PRESS CORE spondent
two hours or more OF hard walking to make
the distance. AZ -l- as
The scenery along the line, however, am
ply repays one for all his trouble. No rail-
road within the limits of Maine has any
thing like it along its line. The Canadian
Pacihc does not climb the mountains, but
coming east from Grecnville strikes the val
ley or gorge OF Wilson sIream at an eleva-
ton OF more than a hundred feet above the
surface of the water. The crossing is to be
made on one of the two huge iron trestles
that are to be features Of this part of the
road. The thousand feet of this lofty tres
tie carries the road over on to the side Of the
mountain wall that borders the northern
bank Of the swiftly descending Wilson
stream. The traveller, without any steep
| grades to tell him that the train has been
| climbing on TO q mountain range. will SUD.
denly md himself whirled along halfway
up the side OF precipitous mountains, with
miles and miles of forest covered valleys and
hillsldes, spreading out before him at every
turn. He will dash through deep cuts that
seem almost like tunnels, to be carried
| the next instant where he may look
almost straight down the mountain
side Tor hundreds of feet, to glittering streams
| idhCo DCluW. III IL Will De y
panorama rich with all the shades OF green,
in autumn rich with the yellow and gold OF
the hard woods that make up a greater part
of the forests in this region. As we came
along in the latter part of winters after
noon, the tree tops caught from the rays OF
| the setting sun hue of bronze that spread
over miles Of the forests below, just before
thelgloom of night settled over them. yrhe
valley Of Wilson stream, especially down In
the region towards the beautiful Ship Pond
where the road winds around Boarstons
Mountain, is equalled for scenery no where
along the Canadian Pacific except on tht
! North Shore of Lake Superior and in the
mountains Of the far west In those regions
the, scenery is wilder, but hardly more pleas
Ing. s
Higgins's, or Store No. 2, the best CAM
along this part of the line, was reached jus
at dusk. Higgins himself is one uf the su
perintendents OF the construction, who ha
built railroads all over the United States
and, like most men of his experience and ad
ventures, is the best of entertainers on
night in camp. And the hospitable Higgn
had no lack of guests that night. There wa
the Chief Of the Medical Staff of the railroad
DR. Sweat, native of Maine, who was borI
in Brownfeld, and sat for that town in th
Legislature Of 1880, before he went to Min
neapolis with medical education gained Ii
| the Maine Medical School. Four wears aq